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Toshio's review
It's not just a series with changed names: Well, everyone grew up watching Astro Boy, but unfortunatelly the series is NOT a faithful translation of Tetsuwan Atom which make it actually a watered down version of the later. While we grew up with a cheap adaptation which doesn't just change the characters names and as well the scripts, people from Asia are able to enjoy the real thing. Ins't a pity? While we can only get a cheap adaptation, the people of Asia get the real thing without sissy omissions... The personality of the characters is also altered, there are people who get away from Astro Boy saying the protagonist is a stupid robot, while in reality is the fault of the dub and the original character which is Atom is completely different than the writters wish to describe in the dubbed material. Astro may even talk robot stuff like "That is not in my electronic brain!" and "What is a sibling? Something which I need to install?" While Atom talks more naturally by saying "I don't knew about it!" and "Wow, a sister! I'm really looking forward to meet her!" Catch phrases like "Let's Rocket!" and "Onward and upward!" are just inventions of the dub, Atom in the original never say them while using his jets. He don't even need to say something so fancy just because he is using his everyday jets, right? And Atom's official catch phrase is "Sugoi-ya!" which can be translated as "That's so cool!" Puns everywhere and names which doesn't sound right In the 1963 dub several names got replaced by puns like Dr. Elefun (Dr. Ochanomizu), Dr. Aster Boyton II (Dr. Tenma) , Dr. Aster Boyton III (Tobio) and the list goes on. Uran was called as "Astro Girl" in the dub which is rather misleading since she doesn't have all the abilities of her brother. The name is also misleading for another reason which is the fact it sounds like a gender bender of the protagonist more than a sister. And the voice actors could not shout "Astro" when both Astro Boy and Astro Girl where in the same scene, go figures... That's what happens when the writters wants to follow a old trend like "Super Girl" when the series was first dubbed there. At least the manga saved us from that curse... The missing scenes: A pain goes in the missing scenes and specially in the 2003 series, don't you ever found weird when Zoran (Japan hates that name, the official Tezuka english site use Uran name while talking about her in their episode guide) was about to leave her home and then already appeared in the forest to meet Pluto? Take a look at the original version which Pluto's ark starts in episode 18, Uran arrive at the forest and start singing with the animals and suddenly a huge wind occur caused by Pluto's arrival. Well, it was the reason that Pluto decided to talk with her, since seeing her having fun in the forest made him curious. Wait, in the dub we got episode 13 for Pluto's Ark which WAS supposed to be "Zoran's Debut"... Go figures... It's good growing up as a fan of a certain franchine, but growing up deceived by the dub is just wrong. There is a lot of clash of quality and even re-scripted material. Most of what we know through dubs are nothing, but lies... Omitted background stories Think about Atlas who comitted a lot of crimes in the 1980 dub and nobody was able to fully understand him since his background as a child robot was excluded. Something is not really right about the dubbed story... And worse is the fact the distributors omit background stories or replace them with altered story-lines which per si are weaker than the truth which is shown in the original series. Poor Daichi, who was technically the same as Tobio in the 2003 series, a boy who lacked the love of father who was too busy with work that he died in an accident. And the dub made him turn into a robot who even "grew up", but his origin in the dub still give a continuity issue: It wasn't "Astro" the first human like robot with feelings developped by Dr. Tenma? And it was not long since "Astro" was shutted down by his creator and was left forgotten in the Science Ministry. Tezuka official english site confirms that Daichi's background in the dub is false, check yourself: "6th Episode:Atlas Director:Konaka Kazuya Script:Hasagawa Keiichi Introduction:Mr. Tokugawa, the head of the Tokugawa conglomerate, asks Dr. Tenma to create a robot duplicating his dead son Daichi. He intends to make this robot succeed him in his position at work. But the robot, who was born with Daichi's hatred for his father and humans, changes his name to Atlas and attacks humans. People are terrified of the appearance of this human-attacking robot. Astro tries to persuade Atlas not to attack humans, but to no avail. At the conference to choose the successor, robot Daichi identifies himself as Atlas and destroys the Tokugawa head-office building. What makes him do such a thing? Nobody knows what is going on inside of him. Eventually, Astro comes to take on Atlas. Astro has a tough time against the superior Atlas. Then Astro notices someone watching their battle. It is Dr. Tenma. While contending with Atlas, Astro's memory of the past when he was Tobio returns. Then Astro shows astonishing power and brings down Atlas." Yep, they use the english names there, but still don't change the fact the dub is still a weaker adaptation of Tetsuwan Atom. Check the site yourself for the correct order of episodes: http://tezukaosamu.net/en/anime/51.html They forgot to add the final episode in that page, though. Also think about "whatever happened with Tobio?" in the 2003 dub? Did he ran away from the country that Dr. Tenma wanted to replace him even if he was alive?" I thought it was the case at first... Well, the japanese shows that he died RIGHT AWAY in episode 7 in a flashback while everything was vague in the dub, right? Trying to make a character be another: They tried even to turn a character into another, so think about Ham Egg who was called "Grudon" who first identified himself as a sensationalist news reporter while in reality he was a notorious ring master of the Robot Crush arenas. Cheap instrumental theme songs: Oh, and the original series even gets a much catcher theme song while in the 2003 dub we got cheap techno songs which are irritating and unfitting in most scenes, specially during dramatic ones. It's true the american version served as inspiration for Tetsuwan Atom having it's own theme song, but think about the removal of opening "True Blue" and the ending "Boy's Heart" in the 2003 series dub. That doesn't feels quite right, huh? We got a cheap opening song and the ending credits just showed a background with the series logo with a loussy instrumental song. Whatever happened with our episode previews? The 2003 dub was so cheap that we don't got them. Oh, the order of episodes feels just wrong... Don't you got the feeling that you missed something when Zoran first appeared in episode 13 of the 2003 dub? Wait, since when she had befriended a bird? Also, think about when her origin was show later on in episode 23. And whatever happened with Atom who already had friends early in episode 3: "Atlas"? They got introduced in the dub version of Denkou's episode "Into Tin Air" which aired later, right? No respect for your older brother? Zoran calls Astro by just his name in the 2003 dub, while in the original Uran call Atom as "older brother" and Atom would feel offended if she called him just by his name. Joke dialogues which ruin the climax? In the dub, Astro says that he played jokes in Zoran's dreams and when they reconciliate, Zoran says off-screen that she'll make another cake and Astro yells "Nooooooooooo!" It doesn't happen in the original, which give a better emotional value. And yep, they skipped the scene which Astro would actually see Zoran's dream, they just skipped to the part which she tells her feelings. In the original 2003 series, Uran is seem getting along with Atom in that dream, then she tells the truth that he is the only brother which she has and she is really looking forward to get along with him. And Atom admits that he feels the same about her. Since the dub omit a lot of stuff, many specials about Tetsuwan Atom were broadcasted only in Japan and few countries. Cheap DVD series? Yup, whe never got the original japanese version with subs and original audio, we just got what we saw in the TV without extras like uncensored scenes, character profiles and others like the original japanese DVD release. Astro Boy: The Movie? The movie even misleaded a lot of new fans and it was made by Mirage Studios under license of Tezuka Co. Which means it's NOT part of the official series time-line. Also, it went BAD in Japan that even Nintendo rejected the possible creation of a Zelda movie which means that a sequel of "Astro Boy: The Movie" may NOT happen. The movie deviates so much from the original series and even dubbed material that any possible new fan may feel fooled while watching it first and then checking the real thing out of curiosity. Yep, our hero is NOT really like that. The REAL movies about Tetsuwan Atom will keep being Japan exclusive, doesn't it hurts? Wait, that game title doesn't sound right... Think about Astro Boy: Omega Factor which is a beat'm up featuring Astro Boy... Though it's a pretty good game, the title is deceiving. The "Omega Factor" is a device which make robots gone insane to the point of killing humans or even deprive them of their minds (2003 series). We got Kokoro as the system for the robot minds in the dubbed anime, but we got "Omega Factor" in that game even though it's actually the opposite of Kokoro all around. The original name of the game is "アストロボーイ・鉄腕アトム -アトムハートの秘密- Asutoro Bōi: Tetsuwan Atomu - Atomu Hāto no Himitsu, lit. Astro Boy: Mighty Atom - The Secret of Atom's Heart", go figures why they changed kokoro to "Omega Factor"... My veredict for the dub is: CHEAP: Although Tetsuwan Atom became famous in the western world through it's dub name of Astro Boy, the dubbed series is just a cheap adaptation of it's original series that mainly deceive the fans and omit important facts. You can't trust in the dub, after all you'll be always surprised while seeing the real thing.